The initial goal of tort reform was simply to poison the pool of potential jurors that were awarding damages against insurance companies, but it has become much more than that. Rates for all types of insurance have increased, car, health, malpractice, and workers compensation to name a few. Meanwhile, awards in personal injury cases have decreased overall.

There are various factors for these cost increases. A bad hurricane can increase homeowners insurance rates nationwide, for example. However, recently stories of insurance companies losing money on bad investments or giving their executives bonuses in the tens of millions of dollars have become commonplace. Personal injury victims become easy targets for insurance companies to deflect criticism for the above.

A day hardly goes by without a TV or radio ad making reference to the reason for rising insurance rates- personal injury claims. There have been countless media reports about how we need to continue tort reform or your insurance rates will go up, or businesses will leave town. It is important to remember that insurance companies continue to earn profits in the billions every year.

Personal injury lawyers have fought for consumer safety for years. Without the work of personal injury lawyers, airbags and car safety glass would not exist. Workers are safer every day due to the regulations that injury attorneys have helped get enacted. Without the good work of injury attorneys, thousands of people a year would die at the hands of phamecutical companies keeping dangerous drugs on the market to increase profits. Everyday, personal injury attorney are the last line of defense between corporate greed and the general public.